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Metropolis of Santa Cruz, UCSC in talks to probably finish lawsuits over enrollment and housing plans

Metropolis of Santa Cruz, UCSC in talks to probably finish lawsuits over enrollment and housing plans

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The Metropolis of Santa Cruz is in talks with UC Santa Cruz to probably finish a long-running dispute over enrollment progress and housing.

UCSC and the Metropolis of Santa Cruz have been concerned in a lawsuit since February 2022 over the college’s Lengthy Vary Improvement Plan (LRDP). The plan lays out UCSC’s imaginative and prescient of progress, together with enrolling an extra 8,500 college students by 2040, bringing the whole pupil inhabitants to twenty-eight,000. The College of California Board of Regents accepted the plan in 2021, setting off a wave of lawsuits from town and the county over potential worsening impacts on the area’s housing stock, amongst different repercussions.

However now, Santa Cruz Mayor Fred Keeley says, the 2 sides are in talks to finish the LRDP lawsuit and an extra lawsuit associated to water entry. Keeley mentioned that over the previous month or so — together with two conversations up to now week — he’s spoken in individual and over the telephone with UCSC Chancellor Cynthia Larive and two UC regents about assembly outdoors of courtroom to come back to an settlement.

“The chancellor and I talked on [April 10] for what I’d name a shape-of-the-table dialogue, versus a substantive dialogue in regards to the points concerned,” Keeley mentioned. “She is fascinated by having a campus-level assembly along with her and their authorized counsel, myself and the suitable employees from town and that we sit down for — I believe multiple assembly — the place we are able to speak with one another on the couple of items of litigation outdoors of the courts.”

Keeley mentioned their first formal assembly would be the morning of Could 12.

UCSC spokesperson Scott Hernandez-Jason mentioned the campus is fascinated by resolving each lawsuits.

“We’re fascinated by persevering with conferences with town to discover agreements about our LRDP and water entry that is likely to be reached outdoors the courts,” he wrote to Lookout final week.

On the UC regents assembly final month, Keeley publicly supported the UCSC’s Pupil Housing West venture and likewise publicly commented that town needed to achieve an settlement outdoors of litigation. Metropolis Legal professional Anthony P. Condotti described Keeley’s gesture at that assembly as town extending an “olive department.”

“My opinion is litigation is an indication of failure, not an indication of success,” Keeley advised Lookout earlier this month. “And if it’s attainable, if the regents need to, if the [UC] Workplace of the President desires to — it was a honest provide from town — we want to see if we are able to make one thing occur. If the reply’s no, then the litigation strikes alongside.”

Litigation and LRDPs

Tensions have simmered for many years between metropolis officers and the college over UCSC’s future enrollment plans. Metropolis leaders have pushed for caps on UCSC’s enrollment progress over considerations about visitors, housing and water, whereas the college continues to face strain to confess a rising variety of college students keen to realize the abilities to compete in a quickly altering world financial system.

In its lawsuit over the 2021 LRDP, town contends that UCSC’s plans don’t adequately take into account the impression on the area people if the college had been to fail to deal with all of its projected new college students.

Metropolis officers say that delays in constructing on-campus housing have already exacerbated the Santa Cruz rental market — which was decided to be the second-least inexpensive within the nation final 12 months.

All through the dispute over the 2021 LDRP, town has pushed for a binding dedication that the college would home all of its new college students to cut back impacts on the native rental market, however the college has refused. The County of Santa Cruz filed an analogous lawsuit across the identical time final 12 months.

It wouldn’t be the primary time UCSC signed a binding dedication to deal with a share of newly enrolled college students. Native officers pushed for a binding settlement from UCSC following the approval of the earlier LRDP, which dates again to 2005 and was changed in 2021 when the brand new LRDP was accepted.

The town, county and 9 residents filed a lawsuit difficult the 2005 LRDP on the grounds that its environmental impression report wanted a greater evaluation of the consequences on water, visitors and housing. The events employed a mediator in 2007 and reached an settlement in 2008.

As a part of that settlement, the college was required to deal with two-thirds of its newly enrolled college students and cap enrollment progress at 19,480 by way of 2021, down from a deliberate 21,000, in accordance with Ryan Coonerty, who helped negotiate the deal whereas on the Santa Cruz Metropolis Council.

“It’s a perennial problem,” mentioned Coonerty. “For the 2005 LRDP we entered into negotiation, and for the primary time, we obtained a binding dedication by the college to handle housing, water and visitors and to tie their commitments to enrollment. It wasn’t an ideal settlement, however I feel it supplied a framework for town and the college to not be in perpetual litigation.”

He mentioned the college complied with all the necessities within the settlement, together with including sufficient beds to deal with two-thirds of newly enrolled college students. UCSC has not constructed any new pupil housing since 2002, however it has elevated capability by way of structural modifications together with including flooring to residential buildings and including further beds to present rooms — turning doubles into triples, as an illustration.”

A sign on the UC Santa Cruz campus

(Kevin Painchaud / Lookout Santa Cruz)

Whereas serving on the county board of supervisors, Coonerty tried to achieve one other binding settlement with UCSC in 2021 over its latest LRDP. By that point, the housing state of affairs was considerably worse locally, and town and county needed the college to agree to deal with 100% of recent enrollment.

“I used to be concerned in negotiations attempting to achieve a settlement settlement for this, however sadly didn’t get it,” Coonerty mentioned. “One factor that I preserve coming again to is, it’s simple to assume that the college and this metropolis, or the neighborhood, are at odds, however genuinely — I educate up there — the school, employees and college students endure simply as a lot from an absence of housing as neighborhood members.”

Sources advised Lookout that through the 2021 negotiations, Larive, together with county and metropolis officers, had been engaged on one other binding settlement that may work for the brand new LRDP that linked housing and enrollment.

However, the sources mentioned, attorneys for the UC regents opposed the plans as a result of the UC system was underneath strain to extend enrollment and didn’t need to create a precedent for different UC campuses struggling to construct housing in different cities.

After the conversations fell by way of in late 2021, town filed its lawsuit in February 2022, and the county additionally filed its criticism.

When requested in regards to the description of how Larive pursued a brand new binding settlement till UC regents’ attorneys stopped it, Hernandez-Jason mentioned the account was “not correct,” however declined to elaborate.

“Campus, metropolis and county leaders signed an settlement previous to the approval of the LRDP that laid the groundwork to have formal discussions about charting a path ahead and resolving considerations related to the 2021 LDRP,” he wrote by way of electronic mail. “These targeted conversations started in earnest in fall 2021, however didn’t obtain the decision that we had hoped for.”

Keeley mentioned the College of California has constitutional independence, and sticks to custom — the establishment doesn’t make choices in isolation, as a result of what occurs on one campus can have an effect on what occurs on one other.

“They’re reluctant to interact in precedent-setting actions,” he mentioned. “So that they’re extremely cautious and I feel they need to be. I don’t disagree with that one bit. However we’re now at a spot the place … everyone appears to assume that sitting down, attempting to work one thing out on our two items of litigation could possibly be fruitful.”

Different UC campuses, together with UC Davis and UC Santa Barbara, have seen related battles with the cities they inhabit. Ultimately, UC Davis, the Metropolis of Davis and the County of Yolo signed a memorandum of understanding in 2018 that included a dedication for the college to “present on-campus housing for 100% of the particular pupil inhabitants in extra of the baseline enrollment of 33,825 college students.” The settlement additionally included a timeline for brand spanking new tasks.

The MOU is a “softer” settlement than a legally binding dedication requiring the college to deal with all of its new college students, Keeley says. For any mattress that isn’t delivered inside six months of the agreed-upon timeline, UC Davis pays native governments $500, break up 80%-20% between town and county. The established deadlines for brand spanking new housing may be amended for causes outdoors the college’s management, together with third-party litigation.

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Whereas Keeley mentioned he doesn’t think about essentially utilizing contracts like Davis’ as a mannequin, he thinks there’s a chance for compromise, contemplating that two different UC campuses have reached agreements round housing and pupil enrollment. He wouldn’t say what, if something, town would concede with a purpose to strike a compromise with UCSC.

County Board of Supervisors Chair Zach Pal advised Lookout just lately that he could be open to beginning conversations with the college to finish the county’s lawsuit over the LRDP, however added that it’s a call for the board as an entire.

“Finally, we have to guarantee these college students have housing, and finding the housing on campus has at all times been the covenant,” he mentioned.

Different boundaries to new pupil housing: water entry

Keeley mentioned town can be hoping to come back to an settlement with UCSC to resolve a separate lawsuit over whether or not town is required to produce water to UCSC property outdoors of metropolis limits. The decision of that case might have direct impacts on the college’s housing plans.

UCSC argued that an settlement signed many years in the past dedicated town to supplying water to the campus, together with areas simply outdoors of town limits. One essential space is northeast of the campus core, the place the college is contemplating a possible pair of recent residential schools.

In August, a Santa Cruz County Superior Court docket choose dominated that town isn’t obligated to supply water entry to the property outdoors of metropolis limits. Choose Timothy Volkmann mentioned the college needed to apply to the Santa Cruz County Native Company Formation Fee (LAFCO) to get permission to get water from town for property outdoors of metropolis limits.

The college is interesting the ruling, although Keeley says he’s hopeful the attraction will also be resolved outdoors of courtroom.

“We all know [water access] may be very, essential to them, and so they know that this housing enterprise may be very, essential to us,” he mentioned. “So now, we’re all motivated to take a seat down and see what we are able to get accomplished.”

UCSC's 2021 Long Range Development Plan.

UCSC’s 2021 Lengthy Vary Improvement Plan exhibits areas for potential progress of pupil housing — together with two pairs of residential schools, as seen within the map on the suitable — for the subsequent 20 years.

(By way of UC Santa Cruz)